1 Tasting Note

Starting an experiment.. actually log the teas I drink in a day, caring not a whit about rating or even notes. Just logging.

An Anji Bai Cha (which is often classified as green?). I have little experience with this tea. The leaves are gorgeous floating in my cup. I’m having trouble figuring out what Anji Bai Cha offers that’s unique.. that’s craveable.. that sets it apart from all other green or green-white teas.

So far, it’s sweet. interesting mouth coating that puckers the back of my tongue- verging on unpleasant but not quite. A little.. chalky? In a way that reminds me of some matcha-dusted green teas (again, not sure if I enjoy it, but I certainly don’t not enjoy). Reminds me of a sweet dragonwell-style green that is over a year old and that I’ve been steeping all day. But gorgeous leaves, I must say.

Steeping this way is not astrigent at all (just floating in a glass), but there is a building dryness that I remember from gong-fu-ing this one. Since I’m brewing something up to combat morning dryness, I think I will move onto something else when I near the end of this cup.

Those of you with Anji Bai Cha experience.. what do you look for? What are you craving? What should I listen for?

Preparation

I crave that freshly baked chicken aroma that only a Ming Qian Anji Bai Cha can give me. I currently have the 2011 crop in my cupboard from Seven Cups, and I’m saving up for some 2012. There is definitely a sweetness to it, from the high concentration of amino acids (again, only from a Ming Qian variety), but I cannot recall a dry finish to it. I’ll have to taste it again.

Baked chicken, eh? I’ll have to look out for that! How far towards savory does that usually go for you? (in the butter —> smoked turkey spectrum)

As for the dryness.. it’s not really hard on the back of the throat but rather lingering at the back of the tongue (right underneath the point where the hard and soft palate meet). Nowhere near what I would expect from, say, a CTC Indian black, but definitely noticeable over time.

I like how light, sweet and refreshing Anji Baicha can be. Really nice to drink even on a hot day.

“Baicha” refers to the cultivar, which is an old style with inherently pale leaf color on the bush. Classically produced as compressed green tea followed by the light, nutty, open leaf loose green we have today.